Delta pilots warned on rapid descent before Toronto jet flipped

Melissa Shin, Bloomberg News on Mar 20, 2025

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The Delta Air Lines Inc. plane that flipped over as it landed in Toronto last month was warned about its rate of descent, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

The CRJ-900 regional jet arriving from Minneapolis received a “sink rate” alert 2.6 seconds before touching down at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17, the report found.

Such an alert typically indicates an excessive rate of descent. After it sounded, the plane’s descent rate and speed remained fairly steady as the pilots dealt with windy conditions, investigators said.

After contact with the runway, the plane tilted to the right and a component attached to the right main landing gear fractured. The gear then fell into the retracted position, the agency said.

“The right wing detached from the fuselage, releasing a cloud of jet fuel, which caught fire while the aircraft began to slide along the runway,” the TSB said in an explanatory video. It noted that the exact timing and sequence of events are still being determined. The plane eventually came to rest upside down in the snow.

None of the 80 people on board Flight 4819, operated by Delta’s Endeavor Air unit, were killed in the accident and 21 people were injured, two seriously. “Some of the injuries sustained by the passengers occurred when they unbuckled their safety belts and fell to the ceiling,” the TSB report said.

The crash in Toronto occurred at a time when the aviation industry was already grappling with an increase in incidents, some deadly — including the Jan. 29 collision of an American Airlines passenger jet with an Army helicopter in Washington. That tragedy left 67 dead.

The first officer, who was flying the plane, has worked for Endeavor Air since January 2024. She was on her last day of a five-day work cycle, and had worked one previous flight that day.

The captain has worked for Endeavor Air since October 2007. On Feb. 17, the flight was his first of the day and his first in the past week.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people,” Morgan Durrant, a spokesperson for the airline, said by email. “Out of respect for the integrity of this work that will continue through their final report, Endeavor Air and Delta will refrain from comment.”

The TSB found no obvious pre-existing malfunctions in the flight control components, it said, adding that it will conduct further analysis. The rest of the plane appeared to be in good working order.

At the time of the accident, there were light snow showers. The runway had recently been plowed to a width of 160 feet, with the full width being 200 feet, the TSB said.

The remainder of the investigation will focus on issues such as landing gear certification, wing structure, landing techniques, obstructions to exiting the aircraft and “organizational and management factors,” the TSB said.

The process will take “some time,” it added, “as many questions remain unanswered.”

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With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein.